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“Oh, Bob! I Thought It Was Curtains! Survival and Transcendence in a Homophobic” by Rob Lawrence Russo— Finding Oneself

Russo, Rob Lawrence, “Oh, Bob! I Thought It Was Curtains! Survival and Transcendence in a Homophobic”, Booklocker.com, 2017.

Finding Oneself

Amos Lassen

In his teens and well into his twenties, Rob Lawrence Russo doubted that he would ever be a happy, independent, financially solvent adult. He had been raised by a hateful father and a passive-aggressive mother so that when Rob entered adulthood he was emotionally fragile, not knowing who he really was or what career path was best for him.

Psychologically, Rob spent years coming to terms with his homosexuality and the homophobic world that he lived in. His mother who once told him she would kill a son who was gay and he was surrounded by anti-gay rhetoric from religious leaders, politicians and even from some mental health professionals. Somehow he has not only survived and now he shares his story with us in “Oh, Bob! I Thought It Was Curtains,” and hopefully it will provide a bit of sanity to anyone who is or has been the product of a traumatic childhood. It is also a good book for queer youth who are attempting to find their way. Rob’s personal narrative can help others avoid some of the mistakes that his parents made.

We get a fine picture of Russo who is now older and worldlier as he looks back on his life from a gay man’s viewpoint. The book is a collection of well written remembrances that captures the past and his personal experiences as a gay man living at a time when AIDS first struck the gay community.